The Record: Curfews in Paterson

WE UNDERSTAND Paterson public officials' dilemma regarding the city's violent street crime problem. That issue came acutely into public view with the apparently random slaying of 12-year-old Genesis Rincon, who was shot while riding a scooter with her friends just after sundown July 5 on Rosa Parks Boulevard.

People, particularly in high-crime neighborhoods, have reason to be upset and to want swift action. Yet as much as we understand the predicament, we find ourselves unsettled with all the renewed talk regarding various curfew ordinances coming forth from the mayor and City Council.

In the aftermath of the Genesis Rincon shooting, Mayor Joey Torres indicated that he would call for curfew-type ordinances that he says will be designed to combat crime. One would impose a curfew banning residents from high-crime areas after certain hours; another would force liquor stores to close earlier; the third would prohibit teenagers from being outside late at night.

Meanwhile, the City Council is pushing ahead with a so-called business curfew, which council members say will be modeled after a similar version in effect in Jersey City. Camden, another high-crime city, has in recent years instated a business-hour curfew for businesses located near residential zones.

Paterson's version, which has been championed by Councilman Andre Sayegh, a recent mayoral candidate, would be targeted at various late-night businesses, including bodegas, barbershops and takeout chicken restaurants. Sayegh believes a business curfew would free police patrols to more diligently keep watch on high-crime areas.

Even so, we remain skeptical about the practical enforcement of any of these curfews. The Paterson police force is stretched too thin as it is. The curfew on residents is particularly alarming, and possibly unconstitutional. Indeed, even the business ordinance is likely to face a legal challenge.

Furthermore, there is a question of effectiveness. The curfew proposal prohibiting teenagers from being outside late at night, for example, would not have saved Genesis.

We give city officials credit for bouncing out ideas and generating discussion about how to curtail street crime. We also applaud Torres for exploring every avenue to put more police on the street, and we applaud ministers and cease-fire groups for staying focused on the problem.

Yet while the curfew ordinances seem to have gained momentum with the mayor, council and city residents, we have our doubts that, absent more substantive initiatives and more police, the curfews will go very far in stemming violent crime in Paterson.